


Candy From Strangers

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 20:58:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12020868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: Someone is killing children around the temple.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer** all rights belong to Sensei Minekura
> 
>  **Timeline/Spoilers** set just a few weeks after Hakkai and Gojyo start working for Sanzo, before the journey to the West (i.e. when Goku still has the long hair and still looks pretty much like a little kid)
> 
>  **Warning** implied pedophilia, murder 
> 
> **Author’s Note** Forensics keep blending into my Saiyuki stories for some reason and I’m really fascinated by the time period before the journey begins. This was written for the Saiyuki Big Bang challenge. Thanks to Quiet or Die for the beta reading which really helped to tighten up this tale and thanks to all those moderating/running this big bang. It’s a lot of work and I appreciate what you’ve done. Another big thanks to Thooluu who did a great piece of [ Sanzo & Goku art](http://thooluu.tumblr.com/post/165046234335/i-participated-in-fyeahsaiyukis-saiyuki-bang-and) that goes with the end of the story (If you want to wait until it appears in the story I’ve also linked it there.) Drop by Thooluu’s tumblr at the link to see it! And you can see all of the works created for the Saiyuki Big Bang [ here](http://fyeahsaiyuki.tumblr.com/big-bang-2017) and thanks to all those worked to bring this challenge together.
> 
> X X X

Chapter One

Flowers perfumed the summer air as Sanzo watched Goku chase butterflies around the temple gardens. At least this time the dumb monkey refrained from trampling everything in sight, proof that maybe Hakkai was right: Goku could be taught. Sanzo hid his grin well as he watched his friend. It wouldn’t do if the other monks, or worse, Goku saw him enjoying the monkey’s antics.

Goku took such joy in everything, as the world was new to him. The Sanbutsushin had told Sanzo something about what Goku really was. There technically wasn’t anything young about Goku but apparently he didn’t age like a human - or even a youkai.

“Oi, saru,” he called as Goku raced by, his ponytail streaming out behind him. “Time to go to Hakkai’s.”

Goku nearly stumbled over himself coming to a sudden stop. “Yay! Do you think that he’s cooked anything yummy?”

“Maybe, but I do know he still has math he wants to teach you.”

Goku made a face as if he’d eaten a lemon. “Math!”

“He says it’s good for you.” Personally Sanzo didn’t envy Hakkai the task of teaching Goku. Sanzo had enough trouble instructing him not to eat everything in sight, to stay out of the koi pond and that the temple incense wasn’t for playing with. To actually teach him lessons must be like educating a rock, only a rock wasn’t hyperactive.

Goku seemed unconvinced of math’s goodness but he fell into step with Sanzo. They passed a few monks gardening in the temple’s welcoming garden near the gates. A few hailed him and Goku. Others stared openly hostile. Sanzo glowered at them. He knew a lot of the monks were uneasy or even downright resentful of Goku’s presence. He could even understand some of it having seen Goku without his limiter, felt that fiery qi, but he also knew the little monkey was sensitive. Their distrust hurt him, leaving Goku forever asking Sanzo what he could do to make them like him. He wasn’t sure Goku understood that it was impossible to make everyone like you.

“Sanzo, can we stop and get some steamed buns on the way?”

“No.”

“How about mochi?”

“No stops.”

“But the monks make them. We’d be helping the temple.”

Sanzo swatted him with his fan. “Do you know what ‘no’ means?”

Goku rubbed his head. “Droopy-eyed meanie!”

“Shut it, monkey.”

Goku settled into a sulk, but unlike Sanzo he didn’t have the nature to feed it well. They weren’t a hundred yards outside the temple before Goku was already distracted by some new stimulus.

Sanzo firmly herded the brat toward Hakkai’s place. Oh, he knew it was technically the kappa’s house but it amused him to refer to it as Hakkai’s just to get under Gojyo’s skin. Goku sniffed the air when they got closer to the home. His gold eyes lit up.

“Takoyaki!”

With that, Sanzo found himself abandoned. Goku had far too much energy to keep up with. Maybe if Sanzo smoked less….With that thought, he took out his pack and lit up. Goku, at least, knocked on Gojyo’s door and waited to be let in.

“Goku, Sanzo, you’re just in time,” Hakkai called merrily from the doorway.

“You did make something yummy,” Goku cried.

“We figured a light lunch would be nice.” Hakkai stepped aside to let Goku in. Goku bounced to the table and immediately tucked into the food Hakkai had set out.

“Light lunch better be able to feed ten men,” Sanzo said.

Hakkai laughed. “We’re well used to Goku’s appetites.” A serious cast fell over Hakkai’s face. “You don’t have another job for us, do you, Sanzo?”

The monk shook his head. “Just here to pick up what you two got on this last job.” He took a drag, letting the smoke trickle past his lips. “Lunch was your idea.”

“Being social is nice sometimes.” Hakkai waved him in.

Sanzo snorted, more smoke haloing his head. “Sometimes, I suppose.”

Inside the kitchen, Gojyo was putting a pile of fried egg rolls on the table in an unaccustomed burst of domesticity. Sanzo suspected Hakkai was behind the very un-Gojyo-like act.

“Hey, Cherry-chan, next time you send us on a mission to find some stupid book, warn us there are psychos who worship the damn thing and will kill to keep it,” Gojyo huffed, going to the ice box to get some bottles of beer. Now _that_ seemed like a Gojyo thing to do.

“And ruin the surprise?” Sanzo smirked then swatted Goku on the back of the head. “Slow down. Let everyone get a chance.”

Goku just grunted at him and grabbed up an egg roll in either hand.

“It’s pointless, Sanzo,” Gojyo said, plopping down with Goku. He made a grab for the eggrolls himself. 

“We could always hope for a little decorum,” Hakkai replied, pointedly.

Goku put one of the egg rolls down, albeit on his own plate, but he did set it aside and made an effort to nibble on the remaining on more daintily. “These are really good, Hakkai. You always have the bestest food. The food at the temple sort of sucks.”

“Doesn’t keep you from eating it.” Sanzo sat down and opened a beer. “Monks are supposed to keep to a simple diet.”

“That explains the beer.” Gojyo rolled his eyes. Sanzo glanced at him.

“Any news from the temple, Sanzo?” Hakkai set a bowl of noodles down in front of the priest.

“Not really.”

“We had a child go missing yesterday,” Hakkai said. “The town is in a bit of an uproar.”

“You know this isn’t going to end well.” Gojyo slammed back his beer. “I hate assholes that hurt kids.”

“How do you know he’s hurt?” Goku asked, hand full of food paused halfway to his mouth.

His companions exchanged looks. It was easy to forget the monkey was naïve, and there were holes in his memory big enough to slip an entire village inside.

“Goku, young children usually don’t leave their parents voluntarily,” Hakkai said after a moment’s deliberation.

“Unless they run away and usually no good comes of that, even if their parents sort of suck,” Gojyo added with the authority of one who knew what he was talking about.

“Oh.” Goku gazed his plate as if lost in thought. “I don’t remember my parents.”

Goku sounded so wistful, Sanzo almost wanted to tell him what little he knew about the ‘Great Sage.’ However, the monk understood he wasn’t supposed to do that. Besides the truth wouldn’t be particularly comforting.

“Hope they find the kid though,” Goku said, before diving back into meal. 

“We all do, Kiddo,” Gojyo said.

The conversation lulled and they went back to their dinner. They had just started clearing the table when a knock sounded on the door. Hakkai answered it. Sanzo could see around him to the kids standing outside the door. He put them between eight and sixteen and wondered if neighborhood kids stopped by for tutoring, too.

“Hello kids, what can I do for you?”

“We saw Goku arrive. We promised to take him fishing with us the next time he was here,” one of the boys said.

Hakkai cast a look back at Goku. Sanzo didn’t miss the excitement gleaming in Goku’s gold eyes.

“I’m done here. I can go, right, Sanzo?”

“We were going to leave as soon as we picked up that book,” Sanzo replied.

“Aw.”

“Goku could stay with us tonight,” Hakkai said.

“Geez, Hakkai, we don’t have enough food for that,” Gojyo chuckled.

“We might not be out that long,” the teen said.

Sanzo waved a hand. “Go on, Goku, You do know you don’t have a fishing pole, right?’

“That’s okay. We have extras,” the young man said.

“This’ll be fun!” Goku bounded off.

“Should we let him go with them?” Gojyo asked. “He’s not a normal kid.”

“No, but socialization should only help him,” Hakkai replied.

“So long as no one tries to take that limiter off,” Sanzo said, thinking that was exactly the sort of thing teenaged boys would try. Perhaps he should have thought of that earlier. “Though, Goku’s more cautious now. Away from the cave, he’s growing up in gallops.”

“It is peculiar,” Hakkai said. “But I suppose it’s hard to say what’s normal for him.”

Sanzo snorted. “I can wait a little. He’ll probably get bored in an hour. How about another beer, and let’s have a look at that book you brought back?”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Goku watched Cang intently as the young man cast his line. As the oldest, Cang was the default leader. The only one to challenge him was Ren, the next oldest. When he first met Ren, Goku thought she was a funny-smelling boy but now, after meeting other women, he’d learned that different scent was something women had in common. He liked it but in his defense, Ren had a flat chest and wore her hair short. It was easy to mistake her as a boy.

“Get the idea?” Cang asked. “Want to try?”

“Sure.” Goku took the bamboo pole. His companions backed up, obviously expecting a hook in the eye. He did nearly hook a tree branch, and the cast spun out crazily.

“Not bad,” Ren said. “Now just keep an eye on the bobber like we told you.”

“Yep, set the hook then reel it in,” Goku repeated their instructions.

His friends cast out too, and then they all waited. Goku hadn’t realized sitting and waiting were the key points for fishing. His muscles itched to move but he _did_ know how to sit. All that time in the cave made him a master of it.

The scents of the lake tickled his nose as he watched the bobber. The rich odor of pine predominated. Goku could smell brackish water and mud. The way the wind moved across his face reminded him of the times pressed against the stone bars, longing for just a little more sensation, for the ability to leave his cave. He had to remind himself that there were no bars in front of him now. He could leave whenever he wanted.

“You live in the temple, don’t you?” Ren asked as she slowly reeled her line back.

“Yeah.”

“That has to be weird,” Zhan, the youngest of them, said. He looked over at Goku, eyes wide and curious. “You have to be the only kid.” 

“No, there are others,” Goku said, wondering what was taking the fish so long to bite. Food would make him bite instantly if he were a fish. “But they’re training to be monks. They don’t have time to play. I get yelled at if I try to get them to play.”

“That sucks,” Cang said.

Goku shrugged. “Well, at least I get to come here with you guys. That’s fun.”

“Hey Goku, look.” Ren pointed to the bobber. It shimmied a bit then sank.

Goku yanked back to set the hook. The fish sailed straight out of the water, bounced off some branches then nearly hit Goku in the head.

“How the hell did you do that?” Cang cried. 

“I just pulled,” Goku protested, trying to grab the flopping fish, a task that proved surprisingly difficult. Finally, he ended up dropping his pole and catching hold of the slimy creature. It smelled worse than he anticipated. “Ew.”

“Here, let me help,” Zhan said, and the boy helped Goku get a good handle on it. “It’s kinda little. Do you want to keep it?”

Goku considered fish dinner, and the creature in his hands. He couldn’t quite connect the two. He didn’t really want to kill it. Funny, he had no problems kicking the ass of mean humans and youkai but he didn’t want to hurt the fish even if he knew it would be tasty. “How do I let it go?”

“I’ll show you.” Zhan’s little hands worked the hook out of the fish’s mouth.

Goku let it go, and the fish splashed away very quickly. Goku sort of envied the fish. Fishing was kind of boring. Swimming sounded like more fun but his friends seemed happy so he cast back out. Maybe he’d pull less hard next time so they wouldn’t look at him funny.

“Hey, got a bite!” Zhan cried, as he gave a sharp pull on the rod.

“Looks like a big one,” Cang said as the rod bowed.

“It’s fighting hard.”

“Goku, you’re good at this. Help him reel it in,” Ren said. “He’s little enough for that fish to pull him in.”

“Sure.” Goku grabbed the rod with Zhan and tugged. 

With a sloppy slurp, what was on the end of Zhan’s line surfaced. Zhan screamed and a couple of the kids dropped their rods and scattered at the sight of the small corpse floating up from the water. Goku couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl, it being face down with greenish nibbled skin. 

“Damn!” Cang cried.

“I’m going to get my friends. They’ll know what to do,” Goku said, turning to Cang. “Can you make sure he doesn’t float away?”

Cang nodded, and Goku took off at a ground-eating pace. He’d never seen anyone who’d drowned before. It had looked and smelled so gross. His chest felt tight. Kids weren’t supposed to die. That’s what old people did. It didn’t take long for him to get back to Gojyo’s. Goku banged the door open, startling his friends.

Gojyo dropped his beer. It fizzed all over the table and his lap. “Damn it! What the hell’s your problem, monkey?”

“Deadbodyinthelake!” 

“What?” Sanzo asked.

“Slowly, please, Goku,” Hakkai added.

Goku grabbed Sanzo’s wrist and yanked. “There’s a dead kid. He’s in the lake. We fished him up.”

That got all of them on their feet. Sanzo’s pale eyebrows furrowed. “Show us.”

“Come on.” Goku took off again, racing back toward the woods.

“Slow it down,” Gojyo cried, stumbling after him.

Goku had noticed all of them smelled like booze. He knew it could make them slow and silly; well Gojyo at any rate. Sanzo just got meaner, and Hakkai never got nothing. He always stayed the same no matter how much he drank. Goku understood enough about drinking to know that was weird. He slowed down enough that no one would hurt themselves on the uneven dirt trail. Tree roots could leap up and trip someone if they weren’t paying attention. 

By the time Goku led them to the lake-front, the only people left were Cang, Ren and Zhan. Ren held the younger boy off in the trees away from the lake. Cang held the boy’s rod so the body wouldn’t float back out or sink under the murky water.

Cang’s eyes rolled wildly as he glanced back at Goku and his friends. “They took off. I’m not sure if they went to get help. Glad you did, Goku. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could sit here and look at him.”

“We’ll help,” Hakkai said, reaching for the rod.

Cang looked from him to Goku, and then over to Sanzo, his eyes sweeping the man’s robes. “Guess we could use a priest.”

Sanzo’s lips twitched but he didn’t reply.

“Goku, you pull him in. Gojyo, I could use your help getting the child onto shore once Goku gets him close enough.”

Gojyo’s mouth twisted. “Give me the lovely jobs, why don’t you?”

“Do we have to stay?” Ren asked. “Zhan is shaking so hard.”

“Go on,” Sanzo said. “Send some more help, some investigator type if there is any.”

Cang nodded, putting an arm around Ren. Zhan still clung to her and Cang led them away. Goku watched them go. Zhan seemed to be crying. He didn’t’ think anyone could recognize the boy in the lake. Did people cry when they were scared? He thought back to the cave as he slowly hauled on the fishing rod. Yes, he most definitely had cried then from frustration, from fear, from sheer loneliness. He hadn’t had a reason to cry since Sanzo saved him but looking at this, he felt a sting in his eyes. It was scary; not quite as scary as watching Hakkai gouge out his own eye–that had made Goku shake even if he had tried not to show it–but there was something so lonely and final about death. It made Goku sad just thinking about it. 

When the body bobbed and swirled closer to shore, Gojyo and Hakkai leaned forward, trying to grab hold without them getting into the mud. Finally, they managed it, taking the hook out of the child’s leg where it had been buried in the decaying flesh. Goku wrinkled his nose against the horrible smell. Hakkai rolled the body over. A small fish flopped out of the tattered clothing. Gojyo yelped and toppled into the lake.

“Son of a bitch!”

“Idiot.” Sanzo rolled his eyes.

“You could help me out.”

“You fell in just fine on your own, kappa,” Sanzo replied, keeping his hands tucked into his robe’s sleeves.

“There’s going to be another body in the damn lake when I get out of here,” Gojyo cried, struggling back up into the mud. It slicked his shirt and trousers. He pulled out his cigarettes then tossed them away in disgust. “And I really needed a smoke after seeing that.”

Sanzo lit up, taking a purposeful drag. He blew the smoke Goyjo’s way. As Gojyo started to complain, the priest offered him one. Goku hated that they were adding to the over -all stink but he never said anything. They liked smoking _so_ much, and the one time Sanzo had run out of cigarettes on a trip had been _ugly_. Goku would rather have the acrid stench than that. Maybe it made them feel better. He preferred watching the smoke rise than looking back down at the child they hauled out of the lake. The fish had eaten away the eyes and lips, making it too hard to look at. 

“I think it’s a young boy,” Hakkai said, “But it is hard to tell.”

“Didn’t you say a boy had gone missing in town?” Sanzo asked.

Hakkai nodded, bending down for a closer look. He tugged at a rope around the corpse’s waist. “It looks like someone weighted him down but it broke.”

“Probably when I pulled on him,” Goku said in a subdued whisper. “We thought it was a big fish, and they wanted me to help because Zhan is still little.” He shook his head. “He shouldn’t have to see this.”

“No one should, Kiddo,” Gojyo patted Goku’s back. “You think someone killed him, Hakkai.”

Hakkai pointed to the boy’s head. “See here, it’s depressed. I think someone broke his skull then tried to sink him to the bottom to hide it.”

“Why would anyone do that?” Goku worried his bottom lip.

“People are sick,” Gojyo replied, and Sanzo grunted his agreement.

Goku frowned at that, and then his head snapped up.

“What is it, Goku?” Sanzo asked.

“Someone’s coming,” Goku said.

“Hope to hell it’s an investigator,” Gojyo said. “I’m not cut out for this shit.”

Goku agreed. Cang had come through. Some of the townspeople, including those whose job it was to keep order, arrived. Eventually they took over, and Sanzo suggested he and his friends get out of their way. Gojyo, his clothing sticking to him, agreed readily. Goku thought maybe Hakkai wanted to stay. He was always so curious and wanted to know things. But none of them stayed. Goku didn’t even argue to stay with Hakkai and Gojyo, as much as he wanted to talk to Cang and the others tomorrow. He wanted to be in his own bed after this. Even there, he didn’t rest easily.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Hakkai had gone to sleep but Gojyo felt far too keyed up for something as simple as slumber. Gojyo hated people who hurt kids; well, he suspected most people did but he _really_ hated it—probably had a lot to do with his shitty childhood. Just looking at that poor kid in the lake made him feel Mom’s hands on his body.

Gojyo needed some solace, and he knew where to find it: the Pearl Gate. This town had few choices in entertainment but for his money–and it would be _his_ money they wanted–the Pearl hired the nicest, most talented of entertainers. While there was something building between him and Hakkai, the other man understood Gojyo’s fluidity and needs. There were no bonds on either of them. 

The sweet, cloying smell of incense boiled out of the brothel as Gojyo went in. It was like visiting Sanzo at the temple, only this incense was meant to cover a far more earthy scent. Mrs. Li perched in her usual spot by the door. No one knew her full relationship to the Pearl Gate. The stories claimed she started working in the place fifty years ago and now owned it, that she was the wife or mother of the real owner, or that she was just a battle-axe hired to keep the clients in line. Gojyo thought it might be a combination of all the above, but every time he came, she sat in the padded seat at the front desk, her wrinkles seeming deeper with each of his visits. She must move about in a cloud of incense wherever she went.

“Evenin’ Mrs. Li.” Gojyo put the money on the table. He usually needed to pay up front or she acted like he was going to sneak upstairs for free. He’d only tried that once.

She counted the money, giving him a hard look. Gojyo assumed she knew what he was and didn’t like it. Mrs. Li nodded toward the stairway. “Number 108, Jing.”

Nodding, he headed up the ornate staircase. The well-worn banister - its shine gone in places, giving it a patchy appearance- spiraled up the stairs. Gojyo preferred not to touch it. Who knew what might be on it. Still, it had been pretty once, this whole place had been. He wondered what it had been before its descent–elevation?–into a palace for the pleasures of the flesh.

Truthfully, he didn’t come here all that often. Gojyo preferred to go to the bars and work his magic. He felt a little bad about wasting money, and he wasn’t ever sure the girls really wanted to be doing this for a living. Still, being disturbed as he was by the sight of the child’s bloated, partially eaten body, Gojyo didn’t think he had many charms left to him. At least he knew whom Jing was, a cute little thing who actually made for a good conversationalist before and after if that’s what he wanted. 

The smile on her face was probably fake but Gojyo liked to think that she at least didn’t abhor his company. Jing took his hand and sat him down on the bed. She went to her instrument and began to play. 

“I thought music first,” she said, quietly. Jing didn’t quite look at him as he took off his boots. That was unusual for her.

“I like it when you play,” he said, truthfully. “Is everything all right, Jing? Is some guy bothering you?”

She smiled faintly. “No, Huang would take care of them if they were.” Her fingers picked out a light melody.

“Still, you look unhappy.”

Jing missed a note. “Please, do not let me ruin your fun. I shouldn’t be burdening you with my expressions.” She nodded at him. “You can get undressed.”

Gojyo didn’t. “I guess I’m just sensitive to it tonight. I was there when they found a boy’s body in the lake today. Sort of why I’m looking for a little comfort,” he said, and then realized Jing had frozen, her fingers going white. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, that’s…it’s just that I’m worried. I’m close to Dai, another of the girls here. She has a little boy, Wen, who went missing two days before the boy everyone was talking about.” Jing’s head bowed. “Only no one cared when it was a courtesan’s child who disappeared.”

“I care,” Gojyo said, getting up to take her hands. “I mean that. I know what it’s like growing up with nobody who cares about you.” Well, his brother had, but even Dokugakuji left. Gojyo didn’t really blame him after what his brother had to do to keep him safe. 

“Do you think it was Wen? He had a red birthmark here.” Jing pointed to the side of her neck.

“It was sort of hard to tell. I might be able to find out more for your friend,” he said, thinking that this would probably require Hakkai or Sanzo’s assistance, someone who wasn’t known as a troublemaker by the local law men. 

Her eyes widened. “You’d do that?”

“Yeah, sure. I hate people who hurt kids.”

“Thank you.” She hugged him tightly. “And I’m sorry. This isn’t what you came here for.”

“It’s all right.” He didn’t bring up the fact that he knew all too well what it felt like to be a second class citizen. He pretty much still was one. Who would have worked up the effort to have looked for him had he disappeared as a kid?

“No, it’s not but thank you for listening.”

Eventually, Gojyo got what he had paid for, but it didn’t give him the solace he hoped for. All he could think about was another missing child.

X X X

“So you don’t think it’s a waste of time?” Gojyo eyed Hakkai over the lunch table. He had slept through breakfast and his roommate had let him sleep.

“I can’t see how searching for a child could possibly be a waste of time,” Hakkai said. “I was curious myself. I went and spoke with Shuo. He’s leading the investigation.” Hakkai rolled his shoulders. “I feel a little like we owe the poor child something after Goku found the boy. No one mentioned the courtesan’s missing child, just the teacher’s son. I’m not sure Shuo even knows there are two missing boys. Shuo told me that Dr. Mishra will be examining the body.” 

“That’s the guy you’re always going to see, right?”

Hakkai nodded. “We both share an interest in herbs and Mishra is interested in qi gong so we’ve been talking. He’s given me some good tips. I think, if I tell him my tenuous connection to this, he might be a bit forthcoming.”

“Thanks, Hakkai. This is …” Gojyo spread his hands. “It’s just getting to me. If Mom had her way, I would have been the one floating dead in a lake.”

Hakkai put a hand on Gojyo’s shoulder then headed out the door. There was precious little anyone could say to that sort of pain. The best he could do was to look into this. Goku had questions as well before he and Sanzo left. It would be nice to have a few answers for them. 

Hakkai stopped at a bookseller before making his way to Mishra’s. He found something he thought might be of interest to Goku. He hadn’t given up on educating the boy. It was just a matter of finding the proper method. Hakkai picked up something for himself. Mishra wasn’t expecting him so Hakkai figured there’d be a considerable wait. It would help to have something to entertain himself, not wanting to just sit there and brood over missing children.

The wait at Mishra’s was every bit as long as Hakkai expected. Purplish bags sagged under the man’s eyes when he finally beckoned Hakkai back to his office. If anything, the chaos within had expanded since the last time he’d seen it. Gojyo would approve of the disarray. Mishra waved to a chair then flopped down behind the desk.

“I wasn’t expecting you so soon, Hakkai.”

“I’m sorry to drop by unannounced, Raj. I wanted to ask you about the boy they brought you last night.”

Mishra’s lips thinned. “Why would you be interested in that?”

“A young friend of mine was one of the kids who fished the boy out of the lake and it’s come to my attention that there are actually two boys missing.”

“Does Shuo know this?”

“I’m not entirely sure. The second missing child belongs to one of the courtesans at the Pearl Gate, but I’m not sure how much anyone there trusts the authorities. I do know that boy had a birthmark here.” Hakkai demonstrated. 

Mishra shook his head then got up. He wiggled a finger at Hakkai who followed him. The doctor led him into a room where the smell of decomposition made Hakkai’s knees weaken and his nose water. If anything, the boy looked worse than the day before. Mishra pointed to the boy’s neck. Hakkai noticed now cleaned of mud, there was a deep rent in it. “No birthmark but there is a broken front tooth just like the Ding family said their son had. I’m fairly sure this poor child is the Dings’ son.”

“I’ve seen children abandoned, hit by the parents and sent to school bruised and hurting but I’ve never seen a child dead like that,” Hakkai said. It wasn’t quite true. In his rampage to avenge his sister, he was fairly sure a few youkai children died but this felt somehow different. Maybe because he was a little more sane now.

“It is quite terrible, and from what you’re telling me there could be another one, maybe in that very lake.” Mishra’s shoulders sagged. “I’m probably not supposed to tell you, but I doubt highly that you had anything to do with this boy’s death, Hakkai. There are signs that the boy was molested before he was killed.”

For a moment, Hakkai was speechless. He had heard of such things, naturally. There had even been rumors of it happening once at the orphanage he grew up in but still, that sort of terror struck him hard. He loved children, had wanted nothing more than to surround himself with eager young minds to teach. How could anyone seek to destroy a child? He wanted to find the person who had done this and show him what he was capable of sans limiters. “I want to find the person who did this.”

Mishra’s lips thinned. “You’re not alone.”

“I need to go talk to Shuo about the other boy,” Hakkai replied. “This could be the beginning of something big.”

“Provided the other boy didn’t just run away from the brothel, though at this point that would be preferable to this option.” Mishra swung a hand toward the dead boy’s body.

“Agreed.” 

Hakkai left, knowing that it wouldn’t be so simple as a runaway child. He could feel it in his bones.

X X X

Goku didn’t like it when it rained. It was more than the fact he didn’t particularly like being rained on. Getting trapped inside the building made him remember his prison. The walls started feeling too close, strangulating. That sensation was getting better the longer he was away from the mountain. Sanzo said Goku would get over it entirely. That felt comforting, well except for the fact Sanzo added ‘or get a boot up the ass if you keep being clingy.’

He and Sanzo had talked some about the things that happened yesterday. Goku had almost been grateful for the incense when they got back to the temple. It helped drive the scent of the dead boy out of his nose.

Unfortunately, now there was nothing to do to while away the day. Yeah he had math homework waiting for him not to mention the book Hakkai had given him last week that Goku had forgotten about until Hakkai gave him that look over dinner last night. Reading was okay. Sometimes, it was kinda fun depending on what Hakkai gave him. Math was never fun. Seven oranges minus four oranges would always equal zero oranges because who could possibly stop eating them?

But before he attempted the dreaded homework, Goku figured there had to be something more exciting to do, he just needed to find it. Sanzo was off working, and Goku couldn’t interrupt. If he raced around inside the temple, burning off his energy and amusing himself, Sanzo would beat him until that fan broke.

Goku poked around the temple, getting shooed out of one place then another. Finally, he followed his nose to the kitchens. He knew they were off limits, but he was so bored and food sounded good. Something yummy would help him forget the chewed-out eyes and gnawed limbs of the kid who’d been not much smaller than him. 

It gave Goku nightmares. He thought Sanzo would be mad at him when his cries woke the priest up, but he just quieted Goku down with a look in his eyes that said Sanzo was no stranger to waking up screaming.

Goku rounded the corner into the temple’s kitchens; there was a bustle here absent from the rest of the temple. Goku’s eyes widened; oh all the yummy smells!

“You know you don’t belong here,” one old monk said, his white beard yellowed around his mouth.

“Meng, it’s all right. I’ll put him to work,” another monk said.

Goku looked into the older man’s soft brown eyes, trying not to seem ungrateful for the rescue but he really didn’t want to work.

“Then it let it be on your head, Lan, when he acts up. You didn’t see him destroy a part of the temple.” The old man’s eyes slotted. “I did.”

“I’m sorry,” Goku muttered. He didn’t remember that but apparently he was really different without his limiter.

“Come along,” Lan put a hand on Goku’s back, leading him to a table covered with spicy herbs. “You can help me pick off the leaves or would you rather tie up bundles for drying?”

Goku looked at the herbs and decided he’d suck at plucking off the leaves. “Tie.”

“All right, take two each of all these herbs,” Lan gestured to the four different types on the table. “Put the stems together and just tie them up.”

“Okay.”

“I’m Lan. You’re Sanzo’s friend.” The monk’s eyes swept over Goku, studying him intently.

Goku nodded. “I’m Goku.”

“Nice to meet you Goku. It looked like you could use a friend today,” Lan said, his fingers expertly plucking off the leaves from their stems. His herbs were different from the ones he pushed toward Goku.

“Yeah. Sanzo’s busy.” Goku tied up his first bundle. “Did you hear what happened in town yesterday?”

Lan’s fingers paused. “Do you mean the poor young boy they found yesterday evening?”

“Yeah, me and Zhou, a kid in town, we fished him out,” Goku said.

Lan tossed a stem aside. “That had to be frightening.”

“A little.” Goku’s nose wrinkled. “He could have been one of my new friends. They were crying so much when he bobbed up to the top of the water. Some of them just ran away. I don’t blame them.”

“You didn’t run away?”

“I went and got help.” Goku grabbed three of one herb, not noticing. “But I didn’t really want to go back there.”

“I’m sure you didn’t. That isn’t wrong, not wanting to. By nature, we abhor violence,” Lan said, stripping another stem.

“I guess.” Goku thought about that, not sure that was true. His friends could get pretty violent. He liked to fight, a lot really. He wouldn’t kill a kid though, he was pretty sure of that. What did it say about him that he enjoyed fighting a little? Goku wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Maybe he could ask Sanzo. He didn’t know Lan yet. He couldn’t ask him.

“We don’t have to talk about that, if it’s bothering you,” Lan said, “But if you need someone to talk to, I’m listening.”

Goku nodded. “Sanzo listens to me so I’m good now.” A growling noise echoed up from below the level of the table. Goku blushed a little.

“Sounds like someone needs a snack,” Lan grinned.

“Oh yeah!” Goku’s eyes lit up then he frowned, eyeballing the other monks. “But they yell at me when I try to sneak one.”

Lan patted Goku’s shoulder. “You just keep tying those herbs.”

“Sure.” 

His fingers moving automatically, Goku tracked Lan as the monk poked about the kitchen. He came back with a few buns and a pudding. He gave Goku a conspiratorial look as he presented them to Goku.

“Here you go.”

“Yay, yummy! Thanks!” Goku stuffed a bun into his mouth.

“It’s good to see a healthy appetite. I always love to see that,” Lan said.

“Then you’ll love me.” Goku beamed and the monk laughed. 

“I think you might be right.”

X X X

As he headed back to the rooms he shared with Sanzo, Goku decided he really liked Lan. The man had snuck him a few more snacks after he got all those herbs tied up. Working wasn’t that bad if there was someone fun to talk to. 

Sanzo still wasn’t in his rooms when Goku got there. His belly still wanted more food but dinner would be soon. Goku tossed himself onto his bed and picked up the book Hakkai gave him. Anything but that math. After reading some, Goku both wanted to hug and kick Hakkai. The book made him cry. Why couldn’t the cat go to heaven? Why wouldn’t Buddha want a cat? Kitties were so much fun! Goku loved kitties. Yeah, at the end, Buddha welcomed the kitty but the monks didn’t. Goku sort of felt like the cat. He knew the monks didn’t welcome _him_. Lan, at least, was different. Goku knew he had to ask Sanzo about the kittens and heaven.

He was still rubbing wet eyes when Sanzo came in. The priest gave him a curious look. 

“What’s wrong with you, monkey?” Sanzo’s lips twitched down. “That kid last night?”

“No, well, a little, but no.” Goku brandished his book. “Why do monks hate cats and me?”

Sanzo plucked the book from Goku’s hands. “Who’s picking on you?”

“No one.” Goku shrugged. It wasn’t really true and Sanzo’s expression said he knew that. “They just chase me out of everywhere, except Lan. He’s one of the cooks. He gave me snacks.”

Sanzo snorted and flipped the book back onto the bed. “I’m going to kick Hakkai for giving you this one. Cats act so smug, so people used to think cats considered themselves better than god. The reason the monks shoo _you_ away is because they’re used to a quiet orderly life. There is nothing quiet or orderly about you, Goku.”

Goku sighed. “I try.”

“That’s the scary part.” Sanzo smiled a little. “Are you sure you’re okay? You had a rough night.”

“Why would someone kill a kid?” 

Sanzo lost his smile. “I don’t know. People can be mean fuckers.”

“I believe you.” Goku didn’t know too many people, not yet. He was always eager to meet new friends. Sanzo often said not everyone was a potential friend, but Goku didn’t see why not. “But I still don’t get why someone would kill a kid.”

“I’m not sure anyone gets it, Goku, but it happens.” Sanzo sighed. “Why don’t you concentrate on that homework? We’re going back to see Hakkai and the kappa tomorrow.”

“Yay!” 

Sanzo sat down at his desk, picking up the newspaper.

“Sanzo, if I wanted to talk about something, you’d listen, right?”

Sanzo put the paper back down, turning back to Goku. “What brought that on?”

“Lan said he’d listen but I know you better. If I wanted to talk about yesterday, you’d listen, right?”

Sanzo nodded. “Goku, I do listen to you.”

“Sometimes you yell.” Goku tapped his fingers on his knees.

“When you’re carrying on about nothing. If it were something serious, I’d listen.”

Goku considered that then nodded. “That’s all I needed to know.”

“I mean that, monkey,” Sanzo said.

“Yeah.” 

As Sanzo went back to his newspaper, Goku decided he really didn’t want to talk about the dead boy anymore because it made him so sad. There was nothing left for him to do but to try the math homework so Hakkai wouldn’t be the one yelling at him.

X X X

Sanzo took a long drag on his cigarette. Goku had been distracted even before they got to Hakkai and Gojyo’s. With his usual unerring sense of smell, Goku found a tang hu lu stand, manned by a couple of monks. Now Sanzo could place a name to the face when Goku was talking about Lan. The monk gave Goku a snack for free, and Sanzo warned the monk against spoiling the monkey. Goku pouted all the way to Gojyo’s after that. Sanzo wondered a bit at Lan’s generosity. He felt distrustful of anyone who was too nice but that might say more about him than anything else.

Sanzo took another deep pull on his cigarette, leaning against the wall in Hakkai and Gojyo’s home. Gojyo put out a hand, his fingers wiggling. He didn’t take his eyes off Goku and Hakkai at their lesson as Sanzo dropped a lighter into Gojyo’s hand.

“So how long before Hakkai just gives up?” Gojyo asked.

“I’m waiting for him to just kill Goku outright.”

Gojyo snorted. “Hakkai is too nice.”

“You are aware we can hear you, right?” Hakkai took blocks out of a bag.

“We are now,” Gojyo replied cheerily. “What’s with the blocks?”

“I’ve noticed Goku likes to get his hands on things, and he doesn’t like to sit down.”

“You’re telling me.” Sanzo rolled his eyes, a streamer of smoke rising above his head.

“Some people learn better if they can touch and manipulate things. I tried this first with oranges.”

“I told you not to try with food,” Sanzo said. “Goku’s ridiculous about it.”

“Hey!”

“You ate your class work,” Hakkai reminded him. “This time there are just pictures of food on the blocks.”

“And you think he wouldn’t eat wood?” Sanzo reached for an ashtray on the nearby table, and then snubbed out his cigarette.

“I wouldn’t eat blocks,” Goku protested loudly.

“Goku, you’re starting with six blocks and if I take back four, how many blocks do you have?” Hakkai pushed a half dozen blocks toward Goku. “Gojyo, you should tell Sanzo about the second boy.”

“Second boy?”

“One of the courtesans at the Pearl Gate has a son who disappeared. We learned the boy Goku and his friends found was the Ding’s son.” Gojyo sagged down into a chair. Sanzo sat next to him, figuring this wasn’t going to be a pleasant story.

“What’s a courtesan?” Goku asked.

“Eat your blocks,” Gojyo replied, flicking ash into the battered tray.

“They don’t taste good!’ Goku shot back.

“So, you think this courtesan’s son met the same end.” Sanzo lit up another cigarette. He was going to need it.

“Yeah, I got that feeling. This just isn’t right.”

“Are things ever right?”

“Way to be cheery, Sanzo,” Gojyo said.

“Reality, try it,” Sanzo replied.

“Here’s a realism for you, I said I’d try to help her out since the woman isn’t being paid attention to by the people who _should_ be doing it.”

“And you’re thinking about involving me in this?” Sanzo’s eyebrows arched.

“Mostly to keep an eye on the officials to see if they are doing their due diligence,” Hakkai said as Goku wiggled two fingers at him. “That’s very good, Goku. Let’s try a harder one. Shen goes to the market and buys ten steam buns. On the way home, he eats three buns and give two buns to his friend, Xue. How many buns does he bring home to his mother?”

“Oh look, Xue’s related to you, Monkey.” Gojyo laughed. “Here’s a hint, the answer isn’t zero.”

“Why not? How could anyone just eat _three_?” Goku’s golden eyes were wider than the buns in question.

“Hakkai, seriously give weapons a try. Goku likes those too, and hasn’t tried to eat one that I’ve noticed,” Sanzo said.

“Duly noted.” Hakkai grinned. “Though back to the other topic for a moment, Sanzo, we thought it would be helpful if you were to accompany me to talk to the detective. It might give some credence to our concern, and so they don’t think I have an unhealthy interest in the crime.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to have the temple involved or at least, appear to be. We do have duties toward this town and its safety,” Sanzo said. “When did you want to go do this?”

“As soon as Goku is done with his lesson.”

“So, never?” Gojyo smirked.

“Bite me,” Goku growled. “And the answer is five, right Hakkai?”

“So I was wrong. You can teach a monkey.” Sanzo smirked.

“Yay! Can I have a bun now?” Goku asked.

“No, but you can have this book I just bought you. You can read it for next time.”

“It’s not sad, is it? The last one made me cry.”

“You cried?” A sharp bubble of laughter burst out of Gojyo. “ _Why_ would you hand me so much ammunition.”

“Shut up, cockroach!”

“Don’t let him kid you, Goku. He cried too when he was a little boy. He told me so,” Hakkai gave Gojyo the hairy eyeball.

“Hakkai!”

“Then don’t tease the boy.”

“It’s cheap entertainment,” Gojyo shrugged. “While you and Cherry-chan go talk to Shuo, I’m heading back to the Pearl to see if the boy has shown up. Guess it is possible that the kid just ran away.”

A knock sounded on the door. Hakkai opened it, not overly surprised to see the town’s youth standing there. They seemed to have a psychic sense about when Goku was around.

“Goku, this is for you,” Hakkai said.

“We just wanted to see if Goku wanted to go do something,” Cang said.

“Beats math.” Goku turned to Hakkai. “Am I done?”

“Yes, go on. Sanzo and I have to go out anyhow,” Hakkai said.

“You planning on keeping him all night, Hakkai?” Sanzo asked.

“We can.”

“Cool! let’s go!” Goku bounced out the door with the other kids.

“He certainly is enthusiastic,” Hakkai said.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Sanzo said, pinching his nose. “Let’s go see this detective.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

“I’m surprised a Sanzo priest is taking an interest in this.” Shuo sat back, studying Sanzo and Hakkai. He was younger than Hakkai expected.

“One of my friends found the boy,” Sanzo shrugged. “It was hard to ignore that.”

“Hmmm, yes, I could see that.”

“We were interested in what we could do to help,” Hakkai said. “And to find out about the second missing boy. He’s the son of a friend of a friend.”

“Oh.” Shuo’s surprise couldn’t quite be hidden. “We just learned of the second boy late today. We haven’t been able to do much in the way of looking for him. We could definitely use help in organizing a search party come first light.”

“I think we can do that,” Hakkai said.

“I can send some people from the temple,” Sanzo said. “In return, we’d like to be kept informed. You can send messages to Hakkai.”

Shuo’s nose wrinkled. Hakkai didn’t think the man liked the idea. “All right. I could use the help.”

“Consider it done.”

X X X

“It’s getting dark,” Goku cast a glance at the sky.

“Maybe we should head home,” Ren said.

“Ugh, Dad will still be at the bar. I hate being alone.” Cang screwed up his face.

“Hey, look. There’s a tang hu lu stand still open,” Zhan pointed the stand out, bouncing on his heels. “Let’s get a snack before we go home.” 

“I know that man. He’s a monk at the temple. Hey, Lan!” Goku called, waving his arm overhead. “Got anything left for my friends?”

“Just a little. I’ll let fine-looking kids like you have what’s left at half price.”

“Yay, thanks.”

“Who are your friends, Goku?” Lan asked.

“He’s Cang and she’s Ren. The little guy is Zhan. Guys, this is Brother Lan. He’s really nice.”

“Don’t build me up too high, Goku. It’ll be a long fall.” Lan grinned. “Here you go.” He handed a several skewers of candied fruit to Cang and Ren to disperse to everyone then rummaged around and came up with two tangyuan. He gave Zhan and Goku the filled pastry. “There’s red bean inside those, an extra treat for you young ones. Though, shouldn’t you all be heading home soon? The sun is fading.”

“Guess we’ll be doing that soon. We usually go fishing all night but after last night.” Zhan made a face.

“You like to fish?” Lan asked.

“I love it, but things got so sad last night. We fished up that boy.” Zhan said.

Lan’s eyes seemed so sad to Goku. “How terrible for all of you. Not only finding something like that, but to have your favorite recreation ruined. Hopefully you have some other hobbies you can enjoy.”

“I like hanging out with Goku and climbing trees.” Zhan beamed.

“They’re such kids.” Ren snorted.

“You’ll be adults for a long time,” Lan said. “No need to rush it. Let them caper. Well, I have a few more goods to sell, then I’ll head to the temple. Feel free to stop by. We could always use some help in the gardens.”

“Sounds like work.” Cang’s nose wrinkled.

“A little work won’t hurt young strong bodies like yours. You all have a good night.”

“Bye, Lan. Thanks for the goodies,” Goku said, sucking several pieces of fruit off one of the skewers of tang hu lu.

“These are good,” Cang said, herding the others along. “Good spotting, Zhan, but I don’t see me weeding gardens.”

“They make me clean sometimes.” Goku scowled. “I’m not that good at it. I’d weed for food.”

“I’m beginning to think that you’d do anything for food, Goku.” Ren laughed.

Goku shrugged. “That’s probably true.”

“And he has no shame about it.” Cang punched Goku’s shoulder lightly.

“None.” Goku gobbled down the first treat.

“Here have half of my second one, Ren,” Zhan offered.

“Thanks.”

“Give me part of yours, Goku.” Cang made “gimme” motions with his fingers. 

“But it’s mine.”

“Come on, don’t be greedy.”

Goku wanted to be greedy, but at the same time he didn’t want his friends mad at him. At least Cang had asked instead of grabbing it like Gojyo always did. He broke it in half, surrendering it. Now he only had one and a half pieces and that didn’t sound as tasty as two. Hey, he just did math on his own. He’d have to tell Hakkai.

As he ate, Goku spied Gojyo heading across town. “You guys still want to go home?”

“Not really,” Cang replied. “What did you have in mind?”

“See that guy? He always gets into a lot of fun stuff. Want to follow him and see what he’s up to?” Goku knew that just because Gojyo got into fun stuff, it didn’t mean that Gojyo wanted Goku to share in it. Gojyo always said “It wasn’t for kids.” Goku rolled his eyes. He wasn’t a kid.

“Beats going to an empty house.”

“What kind of fun does that guy get into?” Ren asked, peering hard after Gojyo. “He looks a little skeevy.”

“Lots of fun to hear him talk. Sometimes he catches me before I can find out what he’s up to so we’ll have to be quiet.”

“Are you telling us that?” Cang laughed. “You’re the noisy one, Goku.”

Goku pouted, hurt. “I’ll be quiet.”

He led the way. Gojyo seemed intent on where he was going He didn’t even notice he had a gang of four tagging along behind him. Finally, he reached a really big house at the edge of town and disappeared inside.

“Hmmm, that’s less fun than I thought it would be.” Goku harrumphed. “Looks kinda creepy.”

“Oh, it _is_ fun. That’s the Pearl Gate,” Cang said with a sly smile suggesting the older teen knew something Goku didn’t.

“What’s that?”

“A whorehouse. I’m not going in there,” Ren said, planting her feet. “Not my idea of fun.”

“As if we could even get in there,” Cang replied. “We’re not old enough.”

“I bet we could get in,” Goku protested, not entirely sure what a whorehouse was. 

“No way, but I want to,” Zhan said, his eyes as round as marbles.

“Boys.” Ren sniffed. “Come on, Zhan. You’re not going in there. I’ll walk you home.”

“Aw.”

Ren took his hand and dragged Zhan along. “Good night.”

“I’m with Zhan. I really want to go in there.” Cang eyed the house. “But we won’t get past the front door.”

“Then we don’t go in the door.” Goku pointed to a tree. “Follow me.”

Goku scrambled up the tree as easily as a squirrel. Cang was clumsier. Goku made the leap onto one of the balconies and caught hold of Cang to help steady the boy when he made the jump.

“That window better be open. If it’s locked, I’m tossing you from here,” Cang huffed, hand resting against his heaving chest.

“Hey, you didn’t have to come.”

“As if you could have kept me away.” Cang grinned.

Goku tried the lock. He couldn’t really tell if it was locked or if he was just too strong for it because the window swung open, and Goku slithered into the dark room. “Smells funny in here,” he said as he headed for the door.

“I can’t believe we got in!”

“Told you. ‘Sides, what could happen now that we’re here?” Goku opened the bedroom door to go out into the hall.

“A huge guard will toss us out on our asses or turn us into eunuchs,” Cang replied.

Goku shrugged, his ponytail rippling across his shoulders. “I don’t know what that is.”

“They’ll cut our balls off,” Cang explained, horror in every word.

Goku flinched, looking over his shoulders at Cang, his eyes huge. “ _Why_?”

“Do you actually know what a whorehouse is for, Goku?”

“Not really.”

Cang sighed. “Didn’t think so.”

Goku sniffed then pointed down the hall. He tried to ignore all the weird, thumping, groaning sounds he heard down the corridor. “Gojyo’s down there … I think. Too much perfume in here to be sure.”

“You can smell them out?” Cang widened his eyes.

“Sure. You can’t?”

“No, that’s just weird.”

Goku shrugged. “I think Gojyo went in here.” He pointed to the door.

“I bet it’ll be sweet in there.” Cang smirked.

“Ooo, dessert.”

“No, Goku, that’s _not_ what I meant. Man, you really _don’t_ know what a brothel is for.” Cang sighed again as Goku turned the knob.

“What are you two little shits doing in here?” A voice boomed.

Goku and Cang twisted around to see the enormous bodyguard stalking down the hall. Cang put his weight against the door and the two boys spilled into the room. Someone gave a startled cry.

“Damn it, Goku! What in the hell are you doing here?” Gojyo growled.

Goku noticed the two women in the room and that Cang was staring at them. “You always say you know how to have fun so we followed you to have fun, too,” he replied, and Gojyo groaned, palming his face.

The large guard stepped into the room. “I’ll get these two out of here, ladies.”

“No, leave them,” one of the women said, the one standing by the bedpost. She came over and cupped Goku’s chin. “This one is such a cute little bad boy.”

The guard made an unhappy face but retreated. Goku was highly aware of how sweet this woman’s perfume was. She smelled so good, like dessert.

“He’s precious, Gojyo.” She hugged Goku, his face nearly disappearing into her abundant cleavage.

“Do I get a hug?” Cang grinned.

“Forget it, kid. You’re way too old to be cute,” Gojyo said. “You two can’t be here. You’d better go before Huang sends Madam Li up here. Besides, Jing, Dai and I are busy.”

“Is he your little brother, Gojyo?” the woman, Dai, asked from her place on the window seat.

“Hardly. My housemate is supposed to be babysitting the little monkey and when we said go out and play, this is not what we had in mind.” Gojyo glared at Goku.

“So … this isn’t fun?” Goku looked from Gojyo to the women, not understanding what was fun about being cooped up in a stinky bedroom, listening to all the moaning sounds echoing around the building.

“You’re too young for this to be fun. Besides, I’m not here for _that_.”

“At least not tonight.” Jing smiled lightly.

“Dai has lost her son, Wen. The boy you found in the lake wasn’t him, Goku.” Gojyo rubbed his chin. “Dai, why don’t you tell them about Wen. They know most of the kids in town. If he is hiding somewhere, they might be able to find him.”

“It’s worth a try.” The woman looked tired, beaten. “As Gojyo said, my son’s name is Wen.”

“I think I know him, has a birthmark here.” Cang pointed to his neck and Dai nodded. “Goku, I don’t think you’ve met him.”

Goku shook his head. “No.”

“I haven’t seen him around, but tomorrow we can go look for him,” Cang offered. “Goku here is amazing at finding people. He sniffed that guy out.” He nodded at Gojyo. “Guess the stink of cigarettes helped.”

“Smartass,” Gojyo grumbled.

“You boys would really do that for me?” Hope lit up her eyes.

“Yeah, sure. We can try,” Goku said.

“Thank you,” Dai said, scrubbing a hand over her eyes.

Gojyo caught hold of Goku’s arm. “Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, Dai. As for you, Goku, you and your buddy need to get out of here now. Come on. And if you tell Sanzo you followed me here, I promise you, I’ll kick your ass,” he said, hauling Goku out of the room. Cang followed reluctantly. Goku didn’t understand what the big deal was but it wasn’t worth putting up a fight. He felt sorry for the woman, having lost her son, not knowing where he was. That had to be so scary.

XXX

Zhan crossed back over the marketplace on his way home. Ren had walked him this far then turned down a different street toward her own house. His path cut across the market square. The monk Goku had gotten snacks from earlier was packing the last of his stand onto his donkey cart as the boy came along in the twilight gloom. The square was nearly empty, making it creepy.

“Heading home?” the monk called to him.

“Yeah, it’s a boring night,” Zhan said, disappointed he couldn’t follow Cang and Goku into the brothel. “Cang said I wasn’t old enough to do what they were doing.” Zhan didn’t see what was so exciting about going into a brothel anyhow.

“That’s too bad. Come here. You can have the left overs,” the monk offered.

“Thanks.”

Zhan trotted over and took the offering. He bit into the treat greedily. Suddenly the man’s hands were around Zhan’s throat, squeezing hard. The boy tried to choke out a cry for help then everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

“Can you believe it? The little brat followed me tonight.” Gojyo stretched out on his battered couch.

“And naturally you were at a brothel.” There was something dark hiding behind Hakkai’s smile.

“I was trying to get more information out of Dai to see if we can help find her son,” he protested. “I told Goku not to tell Sanzo where he was.”

“I hope you’re not depending on that.” Hakkai’s wicked grin grew.

Gojyo shrugged. “No, I’m pretty sure I’m a dead man, but Goku got to see some fine ladies, no doubt. It’s good for him. He’s stuck in that temple with nothing but dudes.”

“Yes, I’m sure the monks will all appreciate you turning Goku into a depraved boy.”

Gojyo wormed over, making room for Hakkai on the couch. “He’s already a handful to listen to Sanzo tell it.”

“Do you doubt it?”

“No, and it’s exactly what that uptight prick needs. Goku’s good for him.” Gojyo thought for a moment then added, “He’s good for you, too.”

“Yes, it’s very nice to feel like I’m being useful again.” A soft smile touched Hakkai’s lips. “Goku needs some real help. He needs to learn the basics.”

“What for? I mean, I know you’re right, but I’m trying to imagine a job Goku would be suited to.” Gojyo shrugged. “Hell, outside of a gambler, I’m not sure what job _I’d_ be suited for. Guess I’m not very ambitious.”

“Maybe not, but you were left to fend for yourself at a very young age. It’s no surprise that education took a back seat.”

Gojyo nodded. “You had no parents when you grew up either.”

“True, but at the orphanage all you were allowed to do was study. I have a head crammed full of things, much of it about a God I’m not even sure I believe in. Still, they gave me the opportunity to do something in life.” Hakkai’s lips thinned.

Gojyo read the man’s face. “You really miss teaching, don’t you?”

Hakkai studied his hands. “With all the blood on my hands, I’m not sure I could ever settle back down and tend to children again. But yes, I do miss it, and will probably always miss it. I need a new purpose or perhaps helping Sanzo on his various endeavors _is_ my new purpose.”

“You could make yourself nuts worrying about that, Hakkai. Maybe you need to learn to drift.”

Hakkai chuckled. “I’m not sure I’m cut out to drift.”

Gojyo nudged him. “That’s what you have me for.”

 

XXX

Hakkai tried to get to the door before the early morning knocking woke Gojyo. To his surprise, a woman stood outside his door, worry etched into her face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to disturb you so early but I was wondering if your little friend was here,” she said.

“Do you mean Goku?” Hakkai saw Gojyo coming out of his bedroom.

She nodded. “He’s friends with Zhan. I was wondering if they were here.”

“No, Goku went back to the temple last night.”

“And he was with an older boy. Is that Zhan?” Gojyo asked, stifling a yawn.

She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. “That’s probably Cang. They’re often together. Zhan’s not here?” Her voice shook. “My baby didn’t come home last night. I’m checking all his friends’ homes. I know that a boy disappeared.” Her breath rasped in. “I’m so afraid.”

“I’m going to go out looking for another boy today, as well as your son,” Gojyo said.

“A third. . . .” Zhan’s mother began to cry. “Oh no.” 

Hakkai put a hand on her arm as she wept.

“I’ll go to the temple right now and get Goku,” Gojyo said. “He knows what Zhan looks like. He’ll help. Sanzo might be able to have some of the monks help.”

“I heard you know the Sanzo priest,” she said, scrubbing a hand over her eyes. “Do you think he’ll help?”

“Don’t worry about that, ma’am. He’ll help,” Hakkai assured her. “Why don’t you keep looking at Zhan’s friends’, and we’ll find you once we get some help.”

She bobbed her head. “Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me.”

“We’re glad to help,” Hakkai assured her, knowing she was right. With all the losses he and Gojyo suffered, they had never lost a child - at least that he knew of. The woman had to be terrified but she turned down the walk with purpose.

“I’ll get dressed right away,” Gojyo said.

Hakkai nodded and shut the door.

XXX

Goku looked back toward Sanzo’s private bath. Sanzo would be in there for a while but Goku still felt nervous as he reached for the priest’s cigarette pack. These things stank something awful but Gojyo and Sanzo really seemed to enjoy them. Goku just had to know what was so great about them.

It took him a few tries to get the lighter to work. He set the end of the cigarette on fire and imitated Sanzo. He took a deep drag on the cigarette, hot smoke rolling into his lungs. Goku coughed violently, dropping the cigarette onto the bedspread. Frantically he picked it up, but not before scorching the cloth. The coughing didn’t let up and his throat felt raw.

He didn’t have any desire to try it a second time but his hand seemed to be moving of its own accord. Before Goku could get a rasping breath in, something hit him in the head, hard.

“What the hell are you doing, Monkey?”

Goku coughed. “Trying to figure out why you and Gojyo like these so much. They suck.”

Sanzo took the cigarette from him and popped it between his lips. “Just leave it at that, Monkey. With my luck, you’ll take to them like you do food and no one can afford that bill.”

“I want something to get that taste out of my mouth,” Goku said, letting his tongue loll out. “Gross.”

“Smoking, going to brothels, that damn Kappa is a bad influence on you.”

Goku could have sworn Sanzo was smiling around the cigarette butt. “You smoke.”

“I don’t go to brothels.” Sanzo took a long drag. “They’re coming to get you soon, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, we promised that woman to help find her son.” Goku frowned. “Sanzo, what if we find him in the lake too?”

Sanzo sat on the bed next to him, fingering the scorch mark. “There is that possibility. There are bad people in this world, Goku.” Something dark seemed to veil Sanzo’s face, and Goku had an urge to hug him. He ignored it.

“I know. Guess I just didn’t know they’d hurt kids.” Something echoed in the back of Goku’s mind, a quick glimpse of a child trained to kill but it faded like a sugar cube on the tongue. He shook his head.

“You were in a cage and you’re ... well, I’m not sure you qualify as kid but close enough.” Sanzo huffed. 

Goku’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah. For a long time.” He couldn’t really grasp any sense of time for the period he was in the cage. It surely lasted forever and ever. He tried not to remember it because it made him shake inside. He raised his head. “Sanzo, are you going to help find this boy?”

“I have responsibilities here, Goku, but I’ll see what I can do.”

A knock sounded on the door, making Goku jump. Levering himself off the bed, Sanzo answered it. A young, shave-headed boy stood there. “Sanzo, there are two men at the gate for you. It’s earlier than we let people into the temple.”

“I know that,” Sanzo replied dryly. “Dumb looking redhead and a man with a monocle?” 

The boy nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“I’ll be right down. Get your butt moving, monkey. They’re here for you.” Sanzo cuffed Goku’s shoulder.

Together, they headed down to the front gate where Gojyo and Hakkai waited. Goku shivered, seeing the expressions on their faces. Something had happened; he just knew it.

“What’s wrong?” Sanzo asked, obviously sensing the same thing. 

“We have another boy we might have to look for,” Hakkai said. “Zhan’s mother came looking for Goku and her son at our place early this morning.”

“The boy never made it home last night,” Gojyo added.

“Zhan!” Goku shivered harder. “But he was with us until we followed you to the Pearl Gate. He and Ren went back home together. Is she all right?”

“We didn’t know about her until just now,” Hakkai replied. “We can start at her house; just to be sure she’s all right.”

Goku’s eyes stung. “Sanzo, something happened to Zhan...he’s my friend. I don’t wanna think about him like that kid in the lake.”

Sanzo’s hand brushed over Goku’s shoulder, the touch not nearly enough to satisfy the boy. “We don’t know that anything has happened to him yet.”

“Come here, kid,” Gojyo said, pulling Goku into a one armed hug. “We’ll go find them. We can do this, promise.”

“Sanzo?” Goku looked over his shoulder.

“I’ll cancel my meetings, and I can see who’s free to help. We’ll do our best,” Sanzo promised.

Deep down, Goku felt it wouldn’t be enough.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

 

“I should have walked him all the way home,” Ren said, tears streaming down her face. She sat on the worn stone steps of the Pearl Gate. “This is all my fault.”

“Zhan’s always going off on his own,” Cang said, his face pale and tight. “It’s not your fault. I’m the oldest. I shouldn’t have insisted on going into the Pearl.” He kicked at the step he sat on.

“None of you are to blame,” Hakkai broke in. “What matters right now is that we concentrate on finding Zhan and Dai.”

“Can’t you sniff them out like you did the redhead,” Cang jabbed a finger at Goku.

“Name’s Gojyo, and that’s why we’re back at the Pearl. This is where Zhan and Ren left you,” Gojyo said. 

“I took him to the market square,” Ren replied, still looking confused.

“And we’ll go there too but we’re trying to see if Goku can pick up the whole trail.” Gojyo patted Goku on the shoulder.

“I’m not sure I can do this,” Goku said.

“You followed him with no problem,” Cang said, pointing to Gojyo.

“But that was fresh, and Zhan has been missing for hours and hours,” Goku protested.

“We know you can’t be sure about this, Goku, but give it a try,” Hakkai said.

“Yeah.” Goku took a deep breath in but Hakkai could see by the look on his face that the boy was unsure. It might have been better to do this with less of an audience. Sanzo and Gojyo probably could have taken Ren and Cang to look elsewhere but the kids didn’t want to stray too far from Goku.

Goku followed a path fairly unerring right back into the town center, the one place they could be fairly certain the missing boys weren’t. Goku paused, casting about, his face crinkling up. “He stopped here but there are so many smells. I don’t know where to go next. I smell the tang hu lu. Brother Lan had them here. He gave us all some before we went to follow Gojyo.”

“Could you be following his path to the Pearl and not his path back home?” Sanzo asked.

“They’re pretty much the same,” Ren said. “Zhan and I walked to here together but I live above the tea house down that street.” She nodded. “My parents own it. Zhan went on his own from here. He would have crossed the town square.”

“I can’t tell where to go next. It’s like he disappears,” Goku’s voice cracked a little.

Hakkai put a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Goku. This was a long shot. There are probably too many scents overlying one another here. Ren, if you know the path Zhan should have taken, we can start there. The monks and inspector Shuo are already working on the lake.”

“This way,” she said, pushing forward.

“I had a thought,” Gojyo said.

“How unusual,” Sanzo broke in, earning himself a murderous look.

“The guy doing this has to know by now that we found the one kid,” Gojyo continued.

“And might find another spot to put the kids,” Sanzo finished his thought.

“That is not a comforting idea, but it’s certainly a very likely one,” Hakkai agreed.

“Wait, you think he’s dead already, don’t you?” Cang growled.

“Sanzo?” Goku questioned, uncharacteristically quiet.

“Don’t you?” Ren said, her eyes tearing up again. “Three boys have disappeared. What are the chances any of them are alive?”

“We don’t know how long this person has the boys or what he does to them,” Hakkai lied. They knew that the boys would be used sexually but there was no good that could happen if he told the youths that. They didn’t need that image in their head. Hakkai was angry enough that it was in his.

“What’s that noise?” Goku asked, turning to the north. “I hear people shouting.”

“The lake is over that way.”

“Dai’s son went missing even before the kid that you guys found,” Gojyo said.

“We better go see,” Sanzo started in that direction. “There’s every chance that he could have used the lake more than once.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Hakkai replied, following the priest.

Goku and his friends ended up taking the lead. By the time they got to the lake, several townspeople where there. Hakkai spotted Shuo and the inspector saw him as well. The man pushed through until he got to Hakkai’s group.

“I heard you had a hand in organizing this,” Shuo said.

Hakkai nodded. “A collaborative effort. Gojyo and Sanzo had a lot to do with it and Goku here knows the boy who went missing last night as do Cang and Ren.”

“Did you find someone?” Sanzo asked.

“Two someones,” Shuo said and Cang swore loudly. “One is merely little more than bone, so it’s not likely to be the boy you told me about this morning, the one from the Pearl, and surely not the one who went missing last night. One is a bit fresher. Do you know the missing boys?” he directed that to Cang.

“Just Zhan ... you want me to look at them, don’t you?”

“If you can.”

“I can if you don’t wanna,” Goku said, hesitant and obviously upset. Sanzo settled a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

Cang shook his head. “I’m older, let me do it.” He crept forward following on Shuo’s heels. The whole group moved with him. Hakkai could smell the decay getting stronger. Cang gagged then turned away. “Don’t know either of them. That’s not Zhan.”

From behind him, Hakkai heard Ren utter a broken sigh of relief but Goku pressed forward as if needing to convince himself. Gojyo moved with him, kneeling down to push aside the more intact boy’s clothing with a stick.

“Here’s the birthmark. This is probably Dai’s son, Wen,” Gojyo said, straightening back up. “What in the hell kind of monster does this to kids?”

“You have it right, I should think, a monster,” Shuo said and Hakkai felt oddly relieved Shuo didn’t automatically blame the youkai. “Thank you for your help. We still have people trying to dive to the bottom to see if there are any more but the water is murky.”

“We thought that it’s possible that if the last boy taken, Zhan, was killed he might not have been brought here. The town is buzzing with the discovery of the other boy. Whoever this is might be taking any new victims somewhere else to hide the bodies,” Hakkai said, not sure he had felt this disturbed since his sister had been taken.

Shuo nodded. “I’ve had that thought as well. I assigned some of the monks who came to help to various areas of the woods to look for bodies, and thank you for providing them to help us, Sanzo.”

Sanzo grunted. “This affects us all.”

To his surprise, Hakkai thought Sanzo might actually mean that. Now he knew what broke through the priest’s tough armor, though given the care Sanzo took of Goku maybe he shouldn’t be too surprised after all.

“The dump,” Gojyo muttered.

“What?” Sanzo asked.

“When I was a kid, after things went sideways, I was in the dump.” Gojyo’s cheeks were the color of his eyes and hair. “Anyhow, there was a body in the dump. I remember that he was the town drunk who got killed by some guys at the bar who thought he had money, and they hid him there figuring no one would be looking in it and that the rats would deal with the problem.”

“Yes, that also occurred to me. I have some men looking there but it is a large place. I won’t stop you if you want to help,” Shuo said.

“I do,” Ren said fiercely. “I don’t care how disgusting it is.”

“Yeah, I’m not ready to stop either,” Cang said.

“Sanzo, I can help, right?” Goku asked.

“Whatever you want,” Sanzo replied, his brow knitting.

“Shuo, who do you think the fourth boy is here?” Hakkai nodded to the corpse, little more than bone with sludgy meat clinging to it.

“We have a few runaway boys in our files. It could be they didn’t run away after all. I doubt we’ll ever know for sure who he was unless we catch the killer.” The inspector sighed, “Provided he even knows.”

“And we don’t even know how many could be hidden around town,” Sanzo said. 

“No, we don’t,” Shuo agreed.

On that unhappy thought, they left the inspector and started trudging across town to where the dump lay outside the city limits. The warmth of the day made the stench rise up and meet them before they could even see their destination. Outside of the dump’s rickety fencing, Sanzo stripped off his white robe and headed inside in only the black under robe, highly inappropriate, perhaps, but Hakkai didn’t blame him. He wished they had had the foresight to stop and purchase something to wrap over their mouth and nose.

Hakkai took off his sash and handed it to Goku. The boy looked at him, confused. “Put it over your mouth and nose.”

“But it’s yours.”

“Yes, but your sense of smell is much better than mine. I’ll be fine,” Hakkai assured him. “You use it.”

The grateful look in the boy’s golden eyes made him grin. “Thanks.” He tied it on and waded into the mire.

“We’ve checked those two corners,” one of the searchers said, flinging an arm out to the west side.

“Thanks,” Gojyo called back.

Goku paused, twisting back and forth for a moment. 

“What’s wrong?” Sanzo asked.

“Something I don’t wanna ... “ Goku shook his head and pushed forward toward a pile of rotting cabbages. 

“We’ve got something here,” someone called. 

Goku didn’t stop digging so Hakkai helped him while Cang and Ren charged over to where the other searchers were. Someone retched and another said, “This one’s been here a while.” 

Goku moaned, dragging Hakkai’s attention back to him. In his shaking hands Goku held a cabbage and below the vegetable was a face looking up at the sky with dead eyes. “It’s Zhan, Hakkai. We got to get him out of here.”

Hakkai caught hold of Goku’s wrist, stilling his hand. “The inspector will need to see this first, but I promise you we’ll get him out of here. Someone needs to go back and find the inspector.” 

Tears trickled down Goku’s nose, splashing down on the grey face of his friend but Goku didn’t move. The gold of his eyes dimmed under the flood.

“I’ll go,” Gojyo said, taking off the way they came.

“Sanzo.” Goku looked up over his shoulder. “Why would someone kill my friend?”

The priest laid a hand on Goku’s shoulder. “Some people put their needs above everything else. The world can be a twisted place, but simply some people are just evil.”

Hakkai couldn’t argue with that. Luckily, Shuo arrived quickly and they were able to move the bodies to cleaner ground. Cang, Ren and Goku sat under a tree in a salty heap, clinging to each other. Gojyo, Sanzo and Hakkai stayed with the inspector, continuing with the investigation.

“How can so many kids go missing?” Gojyo asked.

“Looking at the ages, some of these finds are very old, from years back. A better question is why so many so quickly. If one or two disappear over the course of a year, we might think the kids ran away,” Shuo said. “But to have three go within a week, people take notice.”

“Something must have happened to whoever is doing this, making him bolder, greedier,” Hakkai said.

Shuo nodded. “I’ll be honest, your curiosity about the boy, your newness to town made me wonder if you were involved.”

“You can’t seriously think Hakkai has anything to do with this,” Gojyo cried.

Hakkai laid his hand on Gojyo’s arm. “It’s all right. He’s right. It’s not too uncommon for criminals to pretend an interest in the crimes.”

“But these bodies have been here far too long,” Shuo said. “I do appreciate your help but now, you should take your young friend home. He’s seen enough.”

Hakkai nodded. “You know where to find me if you need our help.”

“Thank you.”

Hakkai headed for Goku and the kids, Gojyo and Sanzo following in his wake.

“At least he didn’t say he suspected you because you’re youkai. He was looking at your limiters,” Gojyo muttered.

Hakkai flinched. He was still having trouble imagining himself as a youkai. “In our prior conversation, Shuo struck me as very fair. He is likely to pursue this to the bitter end.”

“That’s what this mess needs. This guy needs killing like he’s done to these kids.” Gojyo kicked a clump of grass. “Not that it’ll help anything.”

“No, but I’m not disagreeing.” Hakkai paused in front of Sanzo. “Shuo told us to take Goku home. You and he can use our place to shower before heading back to the temple. I can cook us something. It might be good for Goku to have everyone around for a little while at least.”

Sanzo nodded, tossing his cigarette away. “Sounds good. Goku, we’re going to go to Hakkai’s.”

“Cang, Ren, want us to walk you home?” Gojyo offered.

The teens did. They walked them home first before retreating to Gojyo and Hakkai’s. Hakkai showered first and prepared dinner while the others cleaned the smell of the dump and decomposition from their skin. Gojyo had gathered up all of their clothes to clean them. While Sanzo wore just his white robe, Goku was looking lost in a set of Gojyo’s ill-fitting clothes. 

Dinner was mostly silent except for the click of chopsticks. Goku uncharacteristically left the table after only one helping before he retreated to the couch. He huddled up there. Gojyo went to sit with the boy, draping an arm over Goku’s shoulder.

“Want to talk, kiddo?” Gojyo asked.

Goku shook his head, crying. “Sorry, crying like a baby.”

Gojyo patted Goku’s shoulder. “Don’t apologize for tears. It’s okay to cry for your friends. It hurts to lose someone.”

Goku curled up against Gojyo, saying nothing. Gojyo let him cry himself out until Sanzo rounded Goku up to go back to the temple. Even then, Hakkai wondered if it was good to take the boy to the isolation of the temple.

XXX

Sanzo wasn’t too surprised to see Goku curled up in his bed when he finally managed to get back to their room. He didn’t protest as he shucked out of the robe and crawled into bed in his boxers. Goku wasn’t sleeping, and he squirmed closer to the wall to make room.

“I can stay here, can’t I, Sanzo?”

“Yeah.” Sanzo didn’t really know what to say or do. He wasn’t good at comforting. It might come naturally to Gojyo, but for Sanzo it made him nervous. He didn’t particularly like being touched or touching others. It dredged up shit from his own childhood he’d rather leave buried.

“Cang said he heard whoever did it touched them first. He sort of told me what he meant by that.” Goku sighed. “Why would someone do that to a kid? Cang said that wasn’t normal.”

“It’s not but some people are just evil and will take any advantage of someone if they can.” Sanzo shut his eyes, but he couldn’t stop the images popping in his head. He remembered being a kid, recalled the men who wanted to rape him. He could smell the cordite and blood, the crack of the man’s skull coming apart after Sanzo pulled the trigger. He tried not to shake at the memory. Goku was frightened enough. All any of them needed was for this to drag up Sanzo’s nightmares. This was not something he wanted to deal with, but it wasn’t something he could just leave to Shuo alone, not if he could help.

“It’s not right,” Goku murmured, burrowing into the covers. 

“Not right at all.”


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

 

“There’s a problem, isn’t there?” Lan said as Goku snuck into the kitchen.

Sanzo had to leave early in the morning to meet with the town elders to determine what Shuo and his investigators needed to do, and how the town should handle what was happening. Goku wanted to go with him, Hakkai and Gojyo, but Sanzo firmly squashed that idea. It left Goku all alone in the temple with monks who didn’t really like him, except maybe Lan, so Goku had went looking for him. “My friend died yesterday,” he informed Lan when he found the monk in the prep area.

“Oh.” Lan’s eyes widened. “You knew one of the boys they found yesterday.” He patted a stool next to him at the preparation table.

Goku nodded. “Zhan was my friend. I found him in the dump. That is wrong. No one should end up in a pile of garbage.” He pounded the table. “It’s not fair.”

Lan rubbed Goku’s back. “No, it’s not. You have to be a little frightened by this all.”

Goku didn’t want to say yes to that. Sanzo told him it was never good to tell people about your weaknesses. “I can fight. I’m not a little kid like Zhan.”

“No, I can see that.” His hand traveled up, massaging Goku’s neck. “Did you want to go to your friends? That has to be better than sitting in this drafty place.”

“Sanzo doesn’t want me to leave the temple alone.” Goku’s nose wrinkled, unused to anyone touching him so much.

“Understandable. I’m sure he worries about you.” Lan ruffled Goku’s hair then his fingers brushed the diadem.

Goku slapped his palms to the limiter. “Don’t mess with that.”

Lan’s hands dropped. “Sorry. Have you eaten? Would you like some congee?”

He wanted to say no but his belly had other ideas. His head might be sad but his gut didn’t care. “Yeah, thanks.”

Lan ladled up a bowlful of the thick rice porridge and topped it with salty pork. He sat back down at the table and picked up the bamboo skewers to put candied fruit on to make tang hu lu. “You can help me again if you’d like. You can put these candies on the skewers. The brothers wanted to take out some xiaochi today as well. I can start rolling the rice balls with your help.”

“I can do that.” Goku nodded. “You met my friend who died. Zhan was the one who talked to you about fishing.”

“Did I? Hmm, yes I remember the boy.” Lan’s face darkened almost as if he were angry. Goku didn’t get it. “It’s a terrible thing. He looked like a nice young man.”

“Yeah. It shouldn’t have ended like this.” Goku sighed, letting his spoon sink into the congee. “I want to go to Gojyo’s, and help them look or whatever they’re doing. It’s better than sticking fruit on a stick.”

“Probably, but you said the Sanzo told you he didn’t want you out there. I’d walk you to town but I have to finish this.”

Goku shrugged. “It’s okay. Sanzo will get done with his talking soon, I think. He’ll take me. I’ll just help you until then.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

Goku nodded. He wished that he could hurry Sanzo up but what did it matter anymore? Zhan was dead. The boy from the Pearl Gate was dead, and so was the one he had fished up from the lake. Sanzo and the others were right. Bad people were out there, and Goku wanted to punish them all.

XXX

“We should probably go collect Goku. He’s probably chewing through the walls up at that temple,” Gojyo said.

Hakkai nodded. “He is very upset. This could be the first time he’s ever seen death up close though. . . .” He scowled, thinking about the hints of the boy’s past. That might not be true. 

“It doesn’t get much easier,” Gojyo said. “I’d say I was about the same age as him when my mom died but do we even know how old Goku actually is?”

“No, but you do have a knack for cheering him up even if you can’t resist winding him up.” Hakkai gave him a look.

“I enjoy it and he does too,” Gojyo protested.

Hakkai clucked his tongue. “I have no doubt of that.” 

“But I don’t think that will shake him out of this. He needs to know it’s gonna be okay. I’m not sure that Sanzo is gonna be able to do that for him,” Gojyo said, his lips pulling into a scowl.

“No, Sanzo does seem to have problems with closeness. I think that maybe you’re right. We should go up to the temple. I believe Shuo went up there for a meeting. There’s not much else we can do here.”

Gojyo rolled to his feet. “About time. If nothing else, we can take Goku out to do something to get his mind off of everything.” He paused. “Uh, what do you think Goku would like to do? I know squat all about kids.”

“Yes, taking them to brothels does prove that.” A hint of a smile tugged on Hakkai’s lips.

Gojyo snorted. “He followed me, the brat. All I know is he won’t want math homework. He might want to eat but maybe this killed even his nutso appetite.”

“He barely at least night which was shocking. We’ll figure it out once we get there. He might be just happy to have the company.”

“Yeah. You know how welcome those bald-heads make Goku feel.”

Hakkai nodded. “All right, we had best get going then.”

XXX

“See, doesn’t that feel better?” Lan asked. “To have the sun on your face?”

Goku looked up at the blue marble of the sky. No clouds floated overhead but the sun was bright. The small shrine to Kanzeon at the edge of the temple grounds shielded them from view. A pond stretched out before the shrine and the area was a little overgrown as if the monks rarely got out this far. Goku liked her better than the statues of Nio at the front gate. They were scary. Kanzeon’s statue made Goku feel sort of happy and he didn’t know why. “Yeah,” Goku muttered, wishing Sanzo hadn’t gotten out of one meeting only to go right into another one. He wanted to go see Gojyo and Hakkai, not to mention Cang and Ren.

“I like it here. It’s like we’re the only people in the world,” Lan said, leaning back on his elbows in the grass, looking up at the sky.

Goku shuddered. He hated that feeling. “I like being with people.”

“Ah, well I do, too, but it’s nice to be alone for a little while.”

“I’ve had enough of being alone,” Goku replied decisively. “I wish Sanzo would have said it was okay for me to go to town with you.”

“I’m sure the Sanzo has his reasons,” Lan said, sitting back upright. He dug into his robe and came up with a little package. “Here, have some lotus cookies while you wait.”

“Thanks.” Goku nibbled on one then another, to be polite. The sweet lotus paste inside them made him want more but his heart wasn’t in it. He got up and went back around to the front of the shrine to look at the statue of Kanzeon Botsu and all of her outstretched arms. “The monks say you have all those arms to help the suffering. Why didn’t you help my friend? Zhan had to be awful scared,” he told the impassive stone statue. She didn’t reply though it probably would have scared those lotus cookies back out of him if she did. In Goku’s long experience in the cave, stone didn’t hold conversations well. “I want to know why,” he said, his stomach rumbling. He had asked Sanzo a similar question. All his friend could say was that evil existed and evil did what it wanted. 

“Bad things sometimes happen to good people,” Lan said, coming around the corner of the shrine.

“Yeah, well it shouldn’t. That sucks,” Goku said, his head swimming. He felt hot. “Not right ... don’t feel so well.” 

The last thing he saw was the goddess’s feet coming up to meet his face as consciousness fled.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

 

Goku felt awful. His body hurt and his head swam. He squinted up into the sun, slowly aware he could feel the grass under his skin and the sun on it. Where were his cloths? He heard someone cluck his tongue, dragging Goku’s leaden attention over to him.

“Now just how did you wake up so fast? That’s unexpected,” Lan said, peering down at Goku. 

“I’m sick,” Goku said, his tongue feeling too thick for his mouth.

“Are you? Let’s see.” Lan pressed a hand to Goku’s forehead. “Hmmm, you are a little warm.” His fingers moved to Goku’s hair, massaging down to the boy’s scalp. “You have such amazing hair, so thick and lush. But this thing is just in the way.” Lan plucked off the diadem.

Goku started to protest, his drugged arms not fast enough to stop the monk. The world slid sideways, taking the effects of the drugs with it. The Seiten Taisei gazed at the astonished monk, knowing a predator when he saw it. A wicked chuckle escaped the Seiten Taisei’s lips as he lunged, then the screaming began and his senses filled with the delicious tang of iron.

XXX

“Tch, where the hell did that dumb monkey get off to,” Sanzo said, not finding Goku in any of his usual spots. “I swear if he went to town on his own, I’m kicking his ass all the way back here.” 

Sanzo was relieved that no one was really around to hear him ranting to himself. While he suspected the monks already realized he kept Goku around because he was fond of the little monkey, he liked not openly confirming that. He knew that Goku had wanted to go back to Hakkai’s and while somewhat obedient, Goku could get stubborn about some things. He had absolute faith in his own abilities while Sanzo had that same faith in the rottenness of a good chunk of humanity.

He headed outside to see if the monks working near the front gate had seen Goku. Sanzo hadn’t gone but a few steps when he felt something that made his mouth run dry. He knew this feeling, wheeling around and racing in the direction he sensed that wild, fiery qi. Someone had let the primordial monster inside of Goku free.

Sanzo knew Goku would not have taken off his own limiter. Sanzo didn’t even want to know what happened to set the Seiten Taisei loose. Sheer fear had broken it last time and there was someone out there Goku might fear, even though he was more than strong enough to handle one man.

Where the hell was Goku? A thought, like a whisper, entered Sanzo’s mind and tugged Sanzo on out toward the gazing pool and the shrine, some distance from the main temple. 

His legs churned, his muscles singing. His lungs burned. Damn, he needed to smoke less. No one was around, and he thought he might have heard a scream but now there was silence. The crazy qi’s strength grew as the bodhisattva’s temple came into view. Sanzo spotted movement on the shrine’s roof. There he was, pale and naked under the sun, the symbol gleaming on his belly. 

The Seiten Taisei spotted Sanzo, that chilling laugh echoing in the breeze. Sanzo braced himself as the Sage leapt off the shrine, racing for the priest. Sanzo knew he would only get one shot, two at best. The last time the mantra had spilled from his lips instinctively but the energy it required belied the simple words.

He sang out the mantra, sweat beading along his hairline as the Seiten Taisei neared. The power slammed into the creature, bringing him to his knees as a shimmer of gold slipped around his head. Goku blinked at Sanzo twice then slumped to the grass asleep.

Sanzo wiped his forehead, his legs trembling from the exertion of getting clear across the temple compound in addition to the strain the mantra put on his body. “And you think you’re the one who needs a nap?” he muttered, going to check on the fallen boy.

Naked and bloody, Goku seemed unharmed, a fact that knotted up Sanzo’s gut. What if he had come across a pilgrim to the shrine or a monk at work? Though, those things wouldn’t explain how the limiter had gone missing in the first place. Where were Goku’s clothing? An even more sinister thought entered Sanzo’s mind. A Buddhist monk would be very nonthreatening looking, someone young boys might trust. Could the killer be from here the temple? The Seiten Taisei probably ensured no one would ever have answers to the question of why the boys were killed, if Sanzo read the situation right and Goku had encountered the killer.

[ Picking Goku up ](http://thooluu.tumblr.com/post/165046234335/i-participated-in-fyeahsaiyukis-saiyuki-bang-and), Sanzo carried him back around the shrine; the young man’s dangling limbs streaking his clothing with crimson. Sanzo found Goku’s clothing neatly folded down near the pond’s edge, a packet of cookies lying next to them. Further away, the diadem rested in the grass near the body of a monk. 

Putting Goku down by the pond, Sanzo went over to see if he could help, even though he already knew the answer and suspected he had discovered the answer to a larger problem. He recognized - but only barely - Lan, the monk from the kitchen that Goku had taken a liking, too. Wild dogs couldn’t have made more of mess. One arm had been torn off, and the man’s throat had been bitten out. Equally disturbing, for other reasons, was the fact that the man’s robes were open.

Sanzo resisted the urge to kick the remains before turning back to Goku. He didn’t even have to think about it. He put Goku in the pond and started washing away the bloody evidence. Using his own nails, he cleaned under Goku’s to get any skin out and checked the boy’s teeth. Patting Goku down a little with the hem of his robe to dry him, Sanzo started to redress him.

Goku’s eyes fluttered open then he winced, his hand floating up to his head. “Sanzo? Where’d you come from?”

“Where do you think?”

“I feel awful … ate some cookies then everything went all fuzzy then black,” Goku rasped, his throat sounding raw.

“Hush up,” Sanzo said. “You’re sick. Just shut your eyes and nap.”

Goku didn’t argue. Sanzo put the tainted cookies into his robe before picking up his friend. Heading back toward the temple, Sanzo paused, looking at Kanzeon’s statue. 

“You had better not have let him suffer before that idiot took off the limiter,” he snarled at the statue, which had no answer for him. Not that he expected any. Making a sound of disgust, Sanzo started back. 

He was almost back to the temple when he saw two figures heading his way. It was impossible to mistake Gojyo’s red head in the bright sun. He positively shone. When they noticed he was carrying Goku, they started running.

“Sanzo, what’s wrong?” Hakkai asked.

“Long story,” Sanzo replied. “Need to find someone to go running back after Shuo. I think his murderer is dead up by Kanzeon’s shrine.”

“What the hell?” Gojyo said.

“I need to get Goku inside,” Sanzo said, taking off, trusting them to follow. He spotted a young monk, and sent him to town to find the inspector and spread the word that no one was to go out to the bodhisattva’s shrine. He got Goku back to their chambers, and nodded toward the closet. “Get him some pajama bottoms out of there. The bastard drugged him.”

Gojyo swore, tearing down the bedspread while Hakkai got the pajamas. Sanzo got the drowsy young man out of his damp clothes, and they redressed him, putting him to bed.

“How did he even find the killer here?” Gojyo asked.

“It had to be a monk,” Hakkai said more sensibly.

Sanzo nodded. “I think he used these.” He pulled the cookies out of his robes. 

“Goku would fall for food,” Gojyo said.

“Yeah but it’s not going to be a problem anymore,” Sanzo muttered.

“Did Goku kill him?” Hakkai asked, surprised.

“Something like that,” Sanzo replied, not sure he was ready to let them in on everything. “Can you stay with him while I go deal with everything?”

“You don’t even have to ask,” Gojyo said.

“We’ll take care of him if he wakes up,” Hakkai promised.

Sanzo nodded and left them there. It didn’t take long for Shuo to return to the temple with his men. His drawn face when he saw what was left of Lan didn’t give Sanzo enough hints to know just how many lies and half truths he might have to spin about this.

Shuo looked at the cookie Sanzo handed him. “Drugs would explain why none of the boys cried out.” He pocketed the cookies and looked down at the body. “Wild dogs?”

Sanzo shrugged. “Looks like it.”

The inspector’s eyebrows rose. “Roaming the temple?”

Sanzo shrugged again and pointed to the body as evidence. “Could have been the temple mastiffs. They’re huge and trained to protect.”

“Or shall I put it down to the Bodhisattva herself coming alive and doing this?” Shuo almost looked amused by it.

“Stranger things have happened. Goku is still out cold from whatever he was given. I don’t know what, if anything, happened to him before someone killed Lan, but I’m pretty sure he is your man.”

“With your permission, I’d like to search his chambers. The parents of the last two missing boys said personal items were missing. I’d like to see if Lan kept them. It would be proof enough.” Shuo scowled. “And I’ll be content with the wild dog idea. You may watch us search if that would make everyone here more comfortable.”

Sanzo nodded. This was going to be one long horrible day, and if Goku had been really hurt, Sanzo was coming back to do something nasty to the corpse. He didn’t know what yet, but he had faith in his own violence.

XXX

“I really don’t understand,” Goku said, breaking his silence now that dinner was done and he was ensconced on Gojyo’s couch. “Why would he pretend to be my friend?”

Sanzo sat next to him, one of Gojyo’s beer bottles in his hand. “Because it made it easier for him to get close to you.”

“That’s how predators are, Goku,” Hakkai said.

Goku stared at his upturned palms. “And I killed him? I don’t remember that. I don’t remember anything, hardly. I don’t think that Shuo person believed me.”

“I just hope you didn’t say ‘I killed him,’ to the man,” Gojyo said. 

Shaking his head, Goku replied, “Sanzo told me not to. He asked so many questions but all I remembered was eating the cookies then nothing much until I woke up in the temple.”

“I think that Shuo accepted what you told him, Goku,” Hakkai said. “I don’t believe he is going to be too eager to prove that Lan was murdered, not after what that man had done.”

“The story in town is the man ran from being arrested and the temple dogs got him,” Gojyo said.

“Works for me,” Sanzo said.

Goku sighed. “I killed him.”

“It’s okay, kid,” Gojyo said. “Sometimes it has to be done.”

The young man nodded. “It’s just scary that someone can seem like a friend and turn out to be so bad.”

“You can trust in us at least,” Gojyo said.

Sanzo put one arm over Goku’s shoulder, letting the young man lean up against him. “Finally, the kappa has something right.”

“Aw, look, Cherry-chan _does_ have a heart after all,” Gojyo laughed, ignoring Hakkai’s eye roll.

Sanzo had his gun out and aimed before Gojyo could move.

The redhead held up his hands. “No shooting in the goddamn house.”

“Sanzo won’t really shoot you,” Goku said, and Sanzo snorted.

“Goku, if you want, you can stay here with us tonight,” Hakkai said. “I know you don’t feel very well but we can go out to the night market, and get you some of your favorite snacks.”

Goku nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that. Sanzo, can I?”

“Of course.”

The boy ran his hand through his hair. “I know there bad things in this world and I’m gonna have to fight them again some time but I’m glad I have you guys to make the dark bright again.”

“That’s what we’re here for, kiddo,” Gojyo said.

Goku grinned. The world might be dark but he was very happy where he was now, standing in his own private ray of sunshine.


End file.
